delta1, 4, 9(11)-pregnatrienes



Patented Oct. 25, 1960 2,957,893 wherein R is a member of the group consisting of hydro- 1 gen and lower acyl. AM'WD'PREGNATRIENES We have discovered that A -pregnatriene-1704,21-

Hershel L. Herzog, Mountain View, and David H. Gould," i and its fi easlly Leonia,N.J., assignors to Scher g Corporatio Bl 5 converted into therapeutically active substances such as field, N.J., a corporation f N Jersey I 9a-fluoro-A -pregnad1ene-17a,21-d1ol-3,11,20-tr1one, 9a-

N0 Drawmg' Filed 1955 4839 their es'ters,- etc., which themselves are potent antiarthritic 3 i i and antiinflammatory compounds. The conversion of C m (Cl 260 397 45) :3 10 the compounds ofthisinventi-on into the aforementioned invention relates to a new group of P gnanienetherapeutically useful substances may be carried out acdlOldlOllC compounds which are useful intermediates in cording [to the following sequence of reactions:

CHzOC CH: CHaOCCHa I NBA I .KOGOfis 0 perchloricacid on,oo om r I cnio cm f T l onion =0 c=o (5:0 |-.-0H OH\ i OH -'-'OH V 0 a I i HF I I i o 0 V v11 7 vm II CHzOCCH: CHIOH the preparation of antianthritic and anti-inflammatory Reaction of Compound IV with N-bromacetamide compounds and to processes for the manufacture of same. (NBA) in perchloric acid yields the halohydrin VI. More particularly, this invention relates to A apreg- Other reagents which are capable of producing bronatriene-17a,21-diol-3,20-dione and its 2l acyloxy derivmonium ion, such as N-bromsuccinimide together with atives. I v p 60 other strong acids such as sulfuric acid may be used. The The compounds of this invention may'be represented resultant bromohydrin (VI) is deha-logenated by the by the following general formula action of a weak base such as potassium acetate or sodi- OHZOR V e um acetate in a relatively neutral solvent such as acetone or alcohol yielding the epoxide VII. Subjecting VII to the action of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, the epoxide ring is re-opened and a 9 alpha fluorine atom is introduced as shown in Compound VIII. Alternatively by employing anhydrous hydrogen chloride, the 9-alphachloro analogue of VIII may be formed. Hydrolysis of VIH to yield the free 21-a1cohol (IX) is easily accomplished with the aid of aqueous acid.

The compounds of our invention are prepared by relatively simple transformations, part of which are described in the following equations:

sium dihydrogen phosphate and 9.0 ml of 0.2 M disodium hydrogen phosphate. The flask and its contents are steril- O CHQOH CHzOiilCHl HO o=o HO d=o OH I I l i Pyridine I TsCl o (CHaC O)z o Pyridine I II it n HIOCCHS CHnOCCHl CHOE TsO We prefer to employ A -pregnadiene-11u,17a,21- triol- 3,20-dione (I) as starting material. Compound I is readily available by means of the microbiological transformation of 4-pregnene-11a,l7a,21-triol-3,20-dione according to the procedure described in appendant Example 1. Acylation of I with one-molar equivalent of acetic anhydride in pyridine solution affords the 21-acetate (II). It is understood, however, that other acylatingagents such as propionic anhydride, butyric anhydride and other lower aliphatic acylating agents may be employed in place of acetic anhydride. Compound II is then esterified at the ll-position with substituted sulfonic acid derivatives such as p-toluenesulfonyl chloride, benzenesulfonyl chloride, methanesulfonyl chloride and the like. We prefer to employ p-toluenesulfonyl chloride in pyridine whereupon the corresponding 11a,p-tosylate (III) is easily obtained. It is important that the 21-position be selectively protected before the lla hydroxyl group is esterified with a sulfonic acid derivative. We have found that'failure to protect the 21-hydroxyl group against the action of'a sulfonyl halide such as p-toluene sulfonyl chloride results in non-rectifiable mixtures. Furthermore, we prefer, in the esterification of the 2l-position, to use a relatively mild acylating agent such as the anhydrides heretofore described whereby true selectivity is obtained and the ll-hydroxyl remains unesterified.

Finally, Compound III is converted to A -pregnatriene-17u,21-dione-3,20-dione 21-acetate (IV) in good yield by refluxing it in acetic acid containing sodium acetate whereupon the sulfonate group is eliminated and an unsaturation is introduced A Other acid solvents such as propionic acid and the like may be substituted for the acetic acid and other bases such as alkali metal acetates, propionates etc. may be employed to effect the elimination in order to obtain the triene IV.

The following examples depict some of the transformations heretofore described and are entered for illustrative purposes only. It is understood that they in no manner limit the scope of this invention except as defined in the appended claims.

EXAMPLE 1 V A -pregnadiene-11 ,17u,21-tri0l-3,20-di0ne (I To a 300 ml. Erlenmeyer flask is added 100 ml. of 0.1% yeast extract (Difco). containing 9.0 ml. of 0.2. M potast. hi

ized by autoclaving for 15 minutes at C. and to the sterile medium is added 1 ml. of a 1% suspension of Corynebacterium simplex (A.T.C.C. 6946). The flask and its contents are incubated at 28 C. for 24 hours.

To a second 300 Erlenbeyer flask are added 2 ml. of ethanol and 25 mg. of 4-pregnen-l1u,17a,2l-triol-3,20- dione. The 24-hour growth culture is transferred aseptically to the flask containing the steroid and the mixture is incubated at 28 C. and shaken for 7 /2 hours. At the end of that time, the reaction mixture is extracted thoroughly with chloroform and the chloroform extracts are concentrated to a residue. The residue is crystallized from acetone affording 10 mg. of A -pregnadiene-11a, 17u,2l-trio1-3,20-dione as elongated prisms, M.P. 246- 247 dec.

EXAMPLE 2 A -pregnadiene-11 a,17ot,21-tri0l-3,20-di0ne 21 -acetate To a solution of 1.0 g. of I in 20 ml. of anhydrous pyridine is added 0.29 g. of acetic anhydride. The reaction mixture is permitted to stand overnight and then it diluted with ice water. The resulting solid is recrystallized from methylene chloride-hexane affording crystalline II.

EXAMPLE 3 A -pregnadiene-11 0:,1 7a,21-triol-3,20-dione 1 1 -t0sy late 21 -acetate (Ill) To a solution of 1.0 g. of II in 15 ml. of anhydrous pyridine at 0 is added 1.0 g. ofp-toluene sulfonyl chloride. The reaction mixture is allowed to warm to room temperature and stand overnight. It is then diluted with ice water and the resulting precipitate (III) is filtered from the solution.

EXAMPLE 4 A -pregnatriene-1 7a,21 -di0l-3,20-di0ne 21 -acetate turated with ether. The product (IV) is crystallized To a refluxing mixture of 1.0 g. of IV in ml. of methanol under nitrogen is added 0.22 g. of sodium bicarbonate in 1 m1. of water. Refluxing is continued for ten minutes and then the reaction mixture is neutralized with acetic acid. The solvents are removed in vacuo, the residue is leached with methylene chloride, and crystallization of V is induced by the addition of hexane to the concentrated methylene chloride solution.

The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 460,508 filed October 5, 1954, now abandoned.

We claim:

1. A -pregnatriene-170:,21-diol-3,20-dione.

2. A -pregnatriene-17a,21-diol-3,20-dione 21-acetate of the formula 6 3. A A -pregnadiene substituted by ketonic oxygen at the 3- and ZO-positions, by hydroxyl at the t-POSltlOl1, and by a member of the group consisting of hydroxyl and alkanoyloxy at the 21-position, and having an additional double bond between the 9- and ll-carbons.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,380,483 Wagner July 31, 1945 2,673,867 Spero Mar. 30, 1954 2,715,640 Ralls Aug. 11, 1955 2,852,511 Fried Sept. 16, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,056,878 France Oct. 28, 1953 

1. $1,4,9(11)-PREGNATRIENE-17A,21-DIOL-3,20-DIONE. 